Hat-forming die



J. B. OLSEN.

HAT FORMING DIE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. H. 1916.

1,32 1, 141 Q I Patented Nov. 11,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET l- FIG. 2. 9

W] TN E55 E$- Z I N V EN TOR.

0 JOHN B. OLJE/V. 694% @m ,1

1m; mumnn vmmnnmvu cb., wnsummoupn. c., I

J. B. OLSEN.

HAT FORMING DIE.

APPLICATION FILED mac. 11. 19:6.

1 9 3 1 4 1 Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- IIIIIII F/QI [76. b.

I N VEN TOR.

VITNESSES: JOHN 0L 5N .J 0I-I1\T B. OLSEN, 0F GI-IICAGQILLINOIS.

HAT-FORMING DIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Nev.11,1e1e.

Application filed December 11, 1916. Seria1No.'136,243.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. OLSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Tmprovement in Hat-Forming Dies, of which the following is a specification.

Thi invention relates to apparatus for forming hats.

It is an object of the invention to improve the forming apparatus for hats by providing a die which permlts the steam or other heating medium to have access not only to the crown portion of the hat but also to other portions of the same, so that the entire hat is subjected to the forming influence'of heat and pressure.

It i another object of the invention to provide in a forming apparatus of this character means for eliminating the dangers involved in the steam treatment of hats due to the fact that the steam during the treatment may condense while in contact with the felt or other material of the hat. For this purpose the die itself is pro vided with a chamber or chambers and the invention includes means for supplying heat to the die seat in addition to the heat conveyed to the chamber or chambers in proximity to the hat, with the effect that the temperature of the heating medium is not only considerably increased but that condensation of steam (where steam is used in the forming operation) in die or die seat is completely avoided.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for bringing an air tight closing member into contact'with the material of the hat by the same means which also produce a vacuum within the die. The step of producing a vacuum usually succeeded, in the manufacture of hats, the step of forming the hat over the die by steam.

With these and other objects in view, several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and are described inthe following specification and claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is partly a top plan view, partly a sectional View on line 11 of Fig. 2 through the improved apparatus, and partly a sectional view of certain portions of the apparatus with the overlying parts omitted;

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section through the apparatus Fig. 3 shows a similar vertical section on a smaller scale with several parts of the apparatus omitted;

Fig. 4 is a similar section through the apparatus, showing the same with the fleXib lecover forced into contact with the hat;

Fig. 5 is a section through a modified apparatus showing the means for steaming ahat over a die, and

Fig. 6 is a similar section illustrating the application of the flexible air-tight cover to the surface of a telescope hat in a modified apparatus.

The unfinished hat H, comprising a crown portion G and a brim portion B, is brought into engagement with the seating surfaces 8 and 6 respectively of a hat forming die 1. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 the die preferably is of inverted frustoconical shape, and is made of a metal having relatively thick walls for the purpose ofretaining the heat as long as possible. The conical surface, as well as the bottom surface of the die i provided with recesses or chambers '2 and 3 respectively. A heating medium may be supplied to the chambers, which are in commimication with each other, as, for instance, by the passages 1; the int'roduction ofthe heating agent into one of these chambers therefore will sufiice to transmit the heat also to the other chamber or chambers. In addition to the passages 4:, which, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4:, are located in the conical surface of the die, the latter is provided with passages 5 leading from the chamber 2 to the rim seating surface 6 and withpassages 7 leading from the cham- -ber 3 to the crown seating surface 8. A

single source of heat may be used for all of these chambers, as they are in mutual communlcation, and this source of heat is shown in the embodiment of the drawing as comprising a pipe 9 centrally located with respect to the axis of the dieand communieating by a T 10 with a steam supply pipe 11, which may contain a valve 12 for regulating the supply of steam to be admitted into the die.

11 continued subjection of the hat material to the action of the steam might not only have the effect of imparting to the hat material a permanent desired form; in correspondence with the form of the die, but it might also have the disadvantageous efiect of condensing the steam in contact with the material of the hat. In order to eliminate the danger of condensation of steam in contact with the material of the hat, and in order to increase the efficiency of the steaming operation, another source of heat, preferably extraneous to the die is provided, adapted to superheat the steam while in contact with the hat and to prevent condensation of the steam on the die as well as on the hat.

The die 1 is located on a die seat or die support 13 which also has substantially conical shape and which preferably consists of a relatively thin sheet metal plate. The extraneous source of heat is illustrated in the drawings as a circular burner 14 disposed near the apex of the die seat 13 and on the outside of the same. WVhile the burner 14 is separated from the die 1 by the die seat 13, it still serves for superheating the steam which is introduced between the support and the die, and prevents the condensation of the steam within the chambers. Contrary to prior constructions, in which a gas burner or similar source of heat was located at a distance from the die, in the present construction the burner 14 is disposed in close proximity to the die and especially in close proximity to the chambers of the same.

The circular burner 14 may receive the fuel through the hose 15 and through the regulating valve 16 forming part of the burner. According to Fig. 2, the burner is carried by brackets 17 which are supported on the upright pipe 9, and the burner is located near the lower chamber 3 of the die so as to heat the die seat 13, which is also supported on the upper end of the upright pipe 9 by means of a conical plug 18. In the sectional view of Flg. 3 the add1- tional heating means 14 are shown closer to the body of the die 1 than in Fig. 2. By this means those portions of the die support 13 on which the die 1 actually rests are more exposed to the action of the heat of the burner 14 than as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to increase the efliciency of the additional source of heat with respect to the entire apparatus, the heat emanating from this additional source 14 is retained in action on the die support, and is reflected against said die support. For this purpose the die seat 13 has a heat retaining and reflecting portion 19 in the form of a pe ripheral flange extending from the upper edge of the die seat 13 downwardly, so that a space confined by the conical wall of the die seat 13 and the heat retaining or reflecting wall 19 is formed, in or near which space the additional heating means 14 is located. The flame issuing from the burner 14 will play against the conical wall of the die seat, and will be reflected thereby against the heat retaining portion 19, from which wall it will again be reflected toward the other wall of the die seat.

lVhile in Figs. 1 to 4 the hat forming die is shown as having substantially a truncated conical shape, modified forms of the die are illustrated in Figs, 5 and 6. According to Fig. 5, the hat forming die consists of a heavy walled body of metal having approximately the outline of the hat to be prepared and formed on the die, as indicated at 20; this die being also provided with a chamber 21 located under the crown, and a chamber 22 located under the brim portion of the die, the chambers being in communication with each other and being also in communication through an aperture 23 within the die seat 24 with the source of heat, indicated by the pipe 9. A gasket 25 is interposed between the die seat and the die 20 to assure a steam and air-tight connection between the two members. A heat retaining and deflecting wall 26' extends from the marginal portion of the die seat 24 downwardly and serves for retaining the heat emanating from the burner 14 in proximity to the lower surface of the die seat 24 so as to prevent condensation of the steam within the die. This retaining flange or wall also serves for protecting the operator against the heat of the flame issuing from the burner 14. The die also is provided with passages 5 and 7 for admitting the steam against the hat.

A similar die seat 24 with heat retaining wall 26 is illustrated in Fig. 6. The die 27, shown in this last named figure, serves for forming a telescope hat, and for this purpose the crown portion of the die is provided with a circular rib 28 adapted to produce an annular groove in the hat. The chambers underneath the crown and brim portion of the die 27 are also in communica tion with each other and in communication with the pipe 9, through which the steam is introduced into said chambers.

In the formation of hats it has been customary to subject the hat, after it has been exposed to the act-ion of steam on the forming die, to the action of a vacuum to withdraw the moisture from the material of the hat and for other purposes. In these known apparatuses, the die therefore was combined with a flexible cover made of a rubber fabric or of pure rubber, the marginal portions of which were attached to the die; and this cover was tightly stretched over the hat while the vacuum was produced underneath the die and was brought into communication with the portions of the hat. The present invention also has the object to force the flexible cover downwardly into engagement with the material of the hat so as to avoid the necessity of stretching the material of the cover by hand into tight engagement with the die and hat thereon.

In Fig. 2 the marginal portion of the flexible cover 30 is shown partly only, as being placed over the die seat and particularly over the upper end of the heat retaining or reflecting wall 19. It is obvious that upon closing the steam valve 12 and opening the valve 31, which may 'be in communication with a suction pump or the like (not shown in the drawing), a vacuum will be produced within the chambers 2 and 3 of the hat forming die illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, and that this vacuum acting upon the porous material of the hat will have a tendency to draw the material of the cover 30 downwardly and into intimate engagement with the opposite surface of the material of the hat. This engagement of the flexible cover 30 with the hat will be principally caused by the provision of a number of passages 33 extending through the material of the die near the marginal portion of the latter, these passages terminating in a circular groove or de pression 34 on the outer surface of the die. If, therefore, the valve 31 is open and the valve 12 closed, the steam and air contained within the chambers of the die and within the pores of the material of the hat will be withdrawn in direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. l, and at the same time the pressure within the chambers 2 and 3 of the die will be reduced to below atmospheric pressure, and the flexible cover 30 will be forced into air-tight engagement with the die. By this engagement the marginal portions of the flexible cover 30 will be forced into the circular groove 84, and as the entire top of the die and hat is then under an airtight closure, the vacuum within the chamhere will have the eflect of forcing the cover 30 on its entire surface downwardly into engagement with the surface portion of the die projecting beyond the hat and with the surface of the hat.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the marginal portion of the flexible cover 30 may be placed more or less loosely about the marginal portion of the die 20 or 27 respectively, but in these forms also passages 33 throughout the material of the die terminate in a circular depression 34, into which the flexible cover is forced when the valve 31 is opened and the steam valve 12 is closed. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6, the production of the vacuum orthe reduction of the pressure in the chambers of the die will have the effect of forcing the material of the hat near the edge of the crown portion down- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, .D. G.

wardly, as indicated at 36, so that a telescoping rib is formed adjacent to the circular rib 28 of the crown.

According to Figs. 1 and 2, the die seat 13 is supported centrally by the plug 18, and the outer portion 19 of the die seat rests on blocks 37 which are laid on the working table 38 or the like. The outer portions of the die supports in Figs. 3 to 6 may receive a similar support, although this is not indicated in the drawings.

A baflle plate 40 may be supported on the die seat 13 or 24 respectively immediately above the opening of the steam supply pipe 9 for the purpose of preventino the moist steam from being discharged through the central bores 7 of the die against the hat.

I claim:

1. Hatshaping apparatus of the kind comprising a perforated hat support, a membrane, means for introducing steam and means for creating a vacuum within the perforated support beneath the hat and membrane, characterized by the provision of means for heating the hat support with ciently to prevent condensation.

2. In hat-shaping apparatus, the combination with a perforated hat support, a membrane, means for introducing steam and means for creating a vacuum, within the perforated support beneath the 'hat and membrane, of means for heating the hat support and superheating the steam. 3. In hat-shaping apparatus, the combination with a die, a die-support, a mem brane, means for introducing steam and means for creatin a vacuum, of a burner beneath the die support for preventing condensation.

4. In hat-shaping apparatus, the combination with a die, a die-support, a membrane,steam supply and vacuum creating means connected with the interior of the diesupport, of a chamber at the under part of the die-support and a burner in said chamber.

5. In a hat blocking apparatus, the combination of a die seat, a die resting on said die seat, a single pipe for conveying steam to the space between said die and die seat and for withdrawing the steam and air from said space, and a burner located underneath said die seat for heating the space between the die and die seat to prevent condensation of the steam therebetween.

JOHN B. OLSEN.

Witnesses:

HENRY R. VVAHL, DANIEL A. BRENNAN.

Commissioner of Patents, 

